Meet Ema McKie of Los Angeles

Today we’d like to introduce you to Ema McKie.

Hi Ema, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I began my art career in high school, in NH, showing at local galleries before making my way west and landing in LA. Being here opened up my influences and opportunities and I think it was an environment I needed to settle in, in order to develop my body of work. I’m very influenced by architecture and people and naturally this city has ample of both. During my 12 years here I’ve had the opportunity to spend a fair amount of time in NYC and Europe working on projects and showing in galleries there. And the thing that is always consistent is my fascination with our compositional relationship to our environment and what we find in it. More and more I find my pieces reflecting on the experience of existing in spaces and situations. The visceral reaction to the visual world we can’t escape. We’re all just alive trying to figure out what to do with that reality. And my work is the outcome of processing that. I started out as a painter and began working with clay during the pandemic because I needed a medium I could work with at home. When the dust settled and I was back in the studio the scale and fragile nature of the clay started to feel limiting so I started experimenting and finally landed on wood. And I couldn’t be happier with the medium. Those pieces have led me to what I’m working on now which is a large scale traveling show that I look forward to sharing more about in the coming months.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
I’m often of the belief that there is no such thing as a smooth road. But getting a road at all seems like a win in my opinion. It’s 2026 and the world has not been a very kind place for humanity in recent years (or ever) but the one thing artist’s can always count on is the inability to stop. Even when you’re not physically creating it’s there in the way you think and how you cope and navigate everything. So for that I’m grateful.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m an abstract multi-media artist currently focusing on wood sculpture. For a long time the shapes and lines in my work were crisp and bold. Transitioning through different mediums led to more movement and fluidity. Watercolors led to mailable clay and now the pieces flow with movement you can run your hand smoothly over. Lately I’ve been feeling most proud of having landed on work that is strong enough to touch. Saying that out loud feels very metaphorical and big. And it is. But simply put I don’t want my work to only be experienced through one sense or only be available to people who have the ability to tap into that sense. Touch feels so taken for granted sometimes. But it has such universal connectivity. And with so much uncertainty in life, being able to hold something and know it’’s really there goes a long way for me.

Networking and finding a mentor can have such a positive impact on one’s life and career. Any advice?
Networking has always struck me as a funny word for what it really is. It’s community and within that you can find all the things you need to evolve and get where you are trying to go. I’ve been really lucky to have been a part of a studio community that is really strong and ever growing. I’m at Mohilef Studios and Canyon and Mark Castator (who started the project) have made a really consistent effort to keep that at the forefront.
As for mentors the thing I’ve been thinking about lately is remembering to go into conversations with those you look up to without an agenda other than wanting to hear what they have to say. I find that it’s easy to be mission driven and get sidetracked from what is being offered. You have to be willing to be along for the ride in your own career.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://emamckie.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/emamckie/?hl=en

Image Credits
Mark DePaola, Lori Whipple, Ema McKie